Les Jones

Word of the Day > Word of the Day: Chindogu

From the Japanese word for weird or distorted tool. A fanciful invention of questionable utility. The Wikipedia entry for Chindogu makes a useful distinction between practical inventions and chindogu. "However, Chindōgu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions, would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that effectively it has no utility whatsoever. Thus, Chindōgu are sometimes described as 'unuseless' - that is, they cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called 'useful'."

Baby Mops, found at The Urban Grind.

More examples with pictures at The Art and Philosophy of Chindogu. You may also enjoy this interview with Chindogu master Kenji Kawakami.

Previous WOTD: Bush Tourette's Syndrome